


Intrusive Concern

by boredomsMuse



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Episode: Dealing with INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS, Gen, Sort of like a rewrite for character modivations?, or not we don't technically know this isnt accurate, see notes for more ramblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:15:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21702808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredomsMuse/pseuds/boredomsMuse
Summary: Remus is a 'Dark Side'.  He knows that, he's accepted that, but he never wanted it.And now Virgil isn't one, and Remus can't let Deceit ruin that.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit Sanders
Comments: 5
Kudos: 146





	Intrusive Concern

**Author's Note:**

> So like i was rewatching DWIT the other day and I was thinking to myself  
> 'you know remus doesn't seem like the subtlety type yet he's being remarkably more subtle than Deceit about Virgil's darksideness.'  
> and then i was like  
> 'and you know, the conversation between remus and deceit could easily be about virgil, not thomas'  
> and then  
> 'huh, virgil waits for all other sides to leave before telling thomas about being a dark side. And you know, even when they didn't like him no one really treated him like a dark side'
> 
> And then this happened.

Remus is a 'Dark Side'. He knows that, he's accepted that, but he never  _ wanted _ it.

"I'm not evil." He used to mutter to himself. Back when Thomas was young and the split was fresh.

"Of course not." Roman used to scoff. "You're half of me, and there's no way  _ I _ can be evil." Back before Thomas had focused on Roman alone. Before Remus was shoved to the back of his mind to be ignored and forgotten and denied.

"Of course you are." Wrath had smirked. "But that's fine, we can still make Thomas see you." Back when he was the first Side Remus had seen in years. Back when Roman had long since stopped seeking him out.

Remus had been desperate then. Desperate to be seen and heard and acknowledged. So he'd taken Wrath's hand and he'd joined the 'Dark Sides' (as Roman would one day dub them, as Wrath alone would embrace). And he hated it.

He doesn't mutter to himself anymore. Remus has accepted his place on the 'Dark Sides' and he gets it now. 'Being evil' wasn't his call to make - it was Thomas'. Thomas thinks he’s dark and so he is. There's no changing that, not when Thomas doesn't so much as react to thinking about jumping out of a moving car, let alone wonder where the thought came from.

The others like to claim they’re in the same boat as Remus. Or Deceit likes to go on about how this is 'totally his choice and what he wants' while Wrath waxes lyrical about how darkness was something thrust upon him.

It's all a bunch of butthole. 

They aren't like him. They aren't half of a whole, easily split into 'good' and 'bad' no matter how inaccurate the terms. No, they aren't like that, they're  _ whole _ . Whole and complete and  _ not missing a part of himself and _ -

Remus feels a wave of energy as his thoughts slip into Thomas' and sighs. Usually he tries to be a little more creative with his influence, but it can't be helped now. Maybe later he'll have Thomas think about pushing Joan in front of a car, he does have a reputation to keep. What would Wrath do if he discovered how little Remus cared for the whole 'brooding, evil, edgelord' vibe? Especially after…

Ah, but Remus' thoughts are getting ahead of him. He isn't up to that part yet. No, he's thinking about Deceit and Wrath and how they don't  _ have _ to be ‘Dark Sides’. They're whole aspects of Thomas, they cover a lot more than what they're named after. If they only played their cards right, Remus is sure they wouldn't be about of the unwanted. Thomas would see them in a whole new light (ha).

Fear was just proof of that.

Sorry, Anxiety. Well actually Virgil. Remus has such trouble keeping track of what that side is going by these days. Maybe he should just mix all the names, cover all his bases at once. What would that even be? 

Virgity? Anear? Fexigil?

Ha. The first two sound almost like dirty words. He'll have to start using one of those whenever he sees Virgil.

Not that he  _ ever  _ sees Virgil. Even back when he was Fear, he avoided Remus like the plague. 

That had hurt once. Back before he pressed Deceit for  _ why _ and got a happily spoken answer, "Wrath totally hasn't talked you up as a super negative influence on Thomas. Virg definitely isn't scared of you. Why would he be? He's Fear." 

~~ Remus supposes he'll be pulled away from people forever. Roman was first, pulled away by Thomas and the wanted sides, and now Wrath had pulled him away from Virgil. How long until someone pulled him away from Deceit? ~~

He visited once, after Virgil officially shed his identity as Fear but before he'd really become one of them. He just popped up one afternoon as the newly dubbed Anxiety (that's what he was going by then, right?) paced his room, now floating somewhere between the wanted and the unwanted sides. Remus really only wanted to give him his congratulations, to tell Virgil how happy  ~~ jealous ~~ he was. It did not go well.  ~~ It never does. ~~

"Well, well, well it really worked. Maybe you should be creativity, hm?" He joked. Virgil had hissed as he turned to face Remus who just kept grinning  ~~ just keep grinning ~~ . The vaguely lit side had already been tense but Remus could see it get worse, so scared even as he glared and held his ground. "You managed to recreate yourself after all. Oh, do you think we could really swap? We can clearly change." Remus continued. He never liked silence.

"Leave me alone Duke." Virgil managed through clenched teeth.  ~~ He knew Remus name, he didn't have to use that title. Why did everyone always use that title? Why was he always lesser? ~~ "I'm not like you, I don't want any part of your schemes."

"No, you're not." Remus agreed.  _ You're whole _ , he wanted to say,  _ not like me. No matter how much I change, I'll always be a half. Always be the Dark to Roman's Light. _

Instead, he perked up. "But hey, do you think the others think that?" It was meant to be an innocent question. A conversation starter.

Instead, the bags under Virgil's eyes got darker. The same way more and more of Fear's eyes would start to dart around when Remus was near. 

"They don't know." Virgil claimed, voice layered and wrong. Something shifted in Thomas as Virgil's paranoia spiked. "They can't know!"

Remus didn't visit Virgil again.

He sticks to the back of Thomas' mind. Somehow, he finds himself hating it even more now. Which is ridiculous, because things aren't different without Virgil. Not for him, they'd never been friends.

And yet, Remus starts avoiding Wrath as the side simmers away. Which is, admittedly, pathetically easy once Wrath locks himself away in his room. Not that that will last. The second Thomas gives him the chance, he'll boil over and even Remus doesn't want to see that kind of destruction.  ~~ Well, actually it might be interesting… he'll have to think about it. ~~

Watching as Deceit grows bolder without Virgil around to hold him back is harder  ~~ because suddenly Thomas sees him, knows him, and god Remus wants that so bad  _ it's not fair _ ~~ . But harder still is listening to Deceit becoming more and more desperate to convince himself Virgil isn't really gone.

"He hasn't abandoned us! He's just, building up to some grand scheme. We'll see!" He used to scream. Back when Virgil first left them. Those defenses had quickly morphed into claims of, "They've manipulated him. We just need to snap him out of it and he'll come back!"  ~~ Sometimes Remus wonders if Deceit knows how much he lies to himself. Sometimes he wonders if Virgil knew. ~~

Remus stays out of it. He listens and he gives Deceit empty words or he redirects the conversation but he stays in the back of Thomas' mind. Oh he thinks plenty about the ways he could step in. Dramatic displays that will lead to Virgil liking him and Thomas seeing him and Roman letting him join in again. But he doesn't act on any of it.

Then he overhears Deceit saying something and that changes.

"If Thomas wants to be more  _ honest _ with himself," he starts, spitting the word 'honest' like it's poison,  how would a snake even poison itself, or would someone else be poisoning it, would someone have to force-feed a snake poison to do that , "then all his sides should be honest."

"Qh, plotting in the dark again. That's bad for your eyes. Or at least one of them. Would the human one or the snake one be worse off? We should test this. And also their reactions to acid." Remus decides, grinning when Deceit glares.

"Do keep distracting me Remus." He said. "It's not like I'm coming up with the perfect plan to get Virgil back or anything unimportant like that."

"Oh?" Remus prompts. "Does it involve rope?" He asks, conquering a rope in his hands.

“No!” Deceit snaps, too frustrated to remember to lie. He gets like that when he’s frustrated, or excited, or startled. It never lasts long. “Thomas is not obsessed with being honest, yes?”

“No?” Remus frowns like he’s not used to the way Deceit talks. He does, but Deceit likes to think he’s confusing people and Remus is more than happy to play along. Especially now.

“Exactly!” Deceit says. Idoly, barely away he’s doing it, Remus starts to tie and untie the rope. “Well, how do you think he’ll feel when he hears that Virgil’s been lying to him from the start? He’ll hate it, they all will. And Virgil will remember how horrible they are and finally come back.” For just a moment, Remus freezes in his motions. Deceit’s too excited to notice.

“So you’re going to pop up and reveal him?” Remus asks, humming to himself. “That doesn’t seem very grand of you. I thought you were better than that De.” He tsked.

“Well I hadn’t tried dropping rather obvious hints to get them to ask. That would work! They aren’t all oblivious idiots that ignore my every hint.” Deceit hisses.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not Thomas’ intelligence.” Remus claims, raising his hands in a surrender position only to realize he’s gotten them quite tangled in all his fidgeting. With a glare, Deceit waves his hand and the ropes become a snake which easily untangles itself. “Oh kinky.” Remus says. “Snakes would make for a very interesting BDSM night, you know.”

“Oh I most certainly do what to know. I just  _ love _ talking to you sometimes.” Deceit huffs and then cringes as he thinks of it anyway. “Obviously I won’t be dramatic as ever when I don’t reveal Virgil because at this point my only option is not to just tell them. They’ll most definitely believe me, but that matters because Virgil will stay incredibly calm.” He says, getting back to the matter at snake-tied hand. 

“As long as you’re dramatic.” Remus says. “Do let me know if you need any ideas.” He grins.

“Never.” Deceit grins back. With a wave, Remus leaves for his room.

With the door shut firmly and safely behind him, Remus let the frown take over his face. What  _ would _ Thomas do when Deceit revealed Virgil? What would the other sides do? Even Virgil’s reaction is a worry. Remus can think of several outcomes, none of them good. Not for Thomas and not for them either.

“I can’t let that happen.” Remus decides. Virgil’s gotten out, he’s broken the pattern. There is no changing Remus, Wrath will never want to change, and Deceit’s too dependant on Wrath to try. But Virgil  _ got out _ . Deceit can’t ruin that. Sure, Virgil left them behind but  ~~ so did everyone else ~~ Remus can’t fault him for it. 

So Remus decides to get creative, and he decides to do something.

Subtly isn’t exactly his birthday suit, but Remus thinks he did a pretty good job. It wasn’t particularly fun - acting full on ‘bad guy’, bending the truth like that - but it worked. Better than Remus expected actually. Thomas had actually, truly  _ seen  _ him. And sure he wasn’t about to listen to Remus, but that’s fine. He’s used to that. It’s enough that Thomas saw him, enough that the others don’t fear him anymore. Maybe he should send Logan a fruit basket. Oh a book basket! Of books he can eat! Candy books! Books on candy?  ~~ Replacement teeth? ~~

Ah, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that it worked! Virgil got the message. If Remus is honest, and he usually is, he hadn’t expected Virgil to just tell Thomas himself. His thoughts were more along the lines of an epic showdown between Virgil and Deceit where Virgil ensured De would keep his secret, and De realized that Virg was really gone forever, that things had changed.

But oh well, no epic show down. Disappointing because Remus always loved seeing Virgil go all out, but probably for the best. He’s not sure De could handle that. There were certainly some almost-sides that hadn’t.

At least Virgil’s methods worked. Sure Thomas knew, but it was on Virgil’s terms. That had to mean something. At the very least Virgil’s room hadn’t reappeared down the hall.

Did Remus mention he’d been seen? And that that was incredible? Because Remus had been seen and it was  _ incredible. _

_ All in all, a wonderful day _ , Remus hums to himself as he skips back towards the back of Thomas’ mind.

“I see your plan went perfectly.” Deceit spits as Remus passes, glaring. “Not that it came at the cost of  _ mine _ .” He’s clearly annoyed, but he doesn’t seem to think it was intentional. Otherwise  _ they’d _ be having an epic show down and Remus isn’t sure he could handle doing that to the only friend he has left.

“Oh it did indeed.” Remus grins. “Thomas finally aknowledged me. In no time at all he’ll realized  _ I’m _ the better creative half.”

“Of course he will.” Deceit huffs but he doesn’t say anything else as Remus ducks into his room.

As the door shuts safely behind him, he turns and frowns. Someone’s sitting on his bed, someone who really shouldn’t be back here.

“Virgil?” The side in question looks up then quickly looks away again, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hi.” He greets.

“Should you be back here? Aren’t you worried you’ll catch darkness?” Remus wonders.

“I’m not staying.” Virgil says.

“Well obviously.” Remus agrees, though he’s admittedly a little relieved. Of course it was a bit worrying to find Virgil in the back of Thomas’ mind right after he told Thomas the truth. “Why are you back at all?”

“Well…” Virgil hesitated a moment before sighing. “I want to um, say, thanks. For the warning.” He manages.

“What warning?” Remus grins, winking and tapping his nose rather obviously. Virgil stares for a moment before shaking his head with a smile and a chuckle. Like he’s fond. That’s new.  ~~ And nice . ~~

“There was uh, there was something else too.” Virgil says. “I’m… I’m sorry I thought you were some big villian like, well you know. You’re easily the best of u-... this.” He apologizes, stumbling a bit over his words. But Remus gets it. He also thinks it’s much more cutesy heart to heart than either of them can really handle.

“I wouldn’t say that.” He claims, intent to change the topic.

“Yeah? What would you say?”

“Giant radioactive octopus, except it’s tentacles are knives and also it’s holding knives!” Remus announces, earning another one of those head shakes. It’s definitely more amused than annoyed. 

“Of course you would.” Virgil says, standing. “Well, that’s all I had to say. Bye Remus.”  _ His name _ , Remus thinks,  _ that’s his name. _

“Unless I see you first. Because I’ll hide.” Remus grins, hoping Virgil can’t tell how much all this means to him as the newly wanted side lowers down. 

Virgil’s never going back to them, Remus knows that even if Deceit doesn’t. But maybe, just maybe, they could join him.


End file.
